[Senate Report 111-195]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 403
111th Congress                                                   Report
  2d Session                  SENATE                            111-195                                                      =======================================================================
 
   TIME EXTENSION OF A HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT FOR THE AMERICAN FALLS 
                               RESERVOIR 

                                _______
                                

                 May  24, 2010.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Bingaman, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 3099]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 3099) to reinstate and extend the 
deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric 
project involving the American Falls Reservoir, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 3099 is to reinstate the license for, and 
extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a 
hydroelectric project involving the American Falls Reservoir in 
Idaho.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    On September 26, 2003, the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (FERC), licensed the Lateral 993 Project to the 
American Falls Reservoir District No. 2 and Big Wood Canal 
Company as Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project No. 
12423. In 2005, FERC granted the licensee the maximum, two-year 
extension of the license allowed by section 13 of the Federal 
Power Act (16 U.S.C. 806). On August 3, 2009, FERC terminated 
the license after finding that the project construction had not 
commenced by the extended deadline of September 26, 2007. 
Legislation is required to reinstate the terminated license and 
extend the deadline for commencement of construction of the 
proposed hydroelectric project.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    Senator Risch introduced S. 3099 on March 10, 2010. The 
subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing on S. 3099 on 
April 27, 2010. At its business meeting on May 6, 2010, the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 3099 
favorably reported without amendment.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on May 6, 2010, by voice vote of a quorum 
present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 3099.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 requires FERC, at the request of the licensee for 
the project and after reasonable notice and in accordance with 
FERC procedures, to reinstate the license issued for FERC 
project number 12423 and to extend the time required to 
commence the construction of project works for three years 
beginning on the date of enactment.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

S. 3099--A bill to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement 
        of construction of a hydroelectric project involving the 
        American Falls Reservoir

    CBO estimates that implementing S. 3099 would have no net 
effect on the federal budget. Enacting the bill would not 
affect direct spending or revenues; therefore, pay-as-you-go 
procedures would not apply. S. 3099 contains no 
intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the 
Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would impose no costs on 
state, local, or tribal governments.
    S. 3099 would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission (FERC) to extend the deadline for beginning 
construction of a hydroelectric project (number 12423) in the 
American Falls Reservoir in Idaho. The proposed extension could 
have a minor impact on FERC's workload. Because FERC recovers 
100 percent of its costs through user fees, any change in its 
administrative costs would be offset by an equal change in fees 
that the commission charges. Therefore, the legislation's 
provisions would have no net budgetary impact.
    Because FERC's administrative costs are controlled through 
annual appropriation acts, enacting S. 3099 would not affect 
direct spending or revenues.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Megan Carroll. 
The estimate was approved by Theresa Gullo, Deputy Assistant 
Director for Budget Analysis.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 3099.
    The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of 
imposing Government-established standards or significant 
economic responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 3099, as ordered reported.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    S. 3099, as ordered reported, does not contain any 
congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, 
or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

                                     Federal Energy
                                     Regulatory Commission,
                                    Washington, DC, April 26, 2010.
Re: S. 3099

Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.
    Dear Chairman Bingaman: This letter is in response to your 
request for my views on S. 3099. That bill would require the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reinstate, and grant a 
three-year extension of the commencement of construction 
deadline of; the license for the proposed 1.5-megawatt Lateral 
993 Hydroelectric Project No. 12423, to be located at the 
juncture of the 993 Lateral Canal and the North Gooding Main 
Canal, northwest of the town of Shoshone, in Lincoln County, 
Idaho.
    The Commission issued an original license for this project, 
to American Falls Reservoir District No. 2 and Big Wood Canal, 
on September 26, 2003. The license provided that the company 
was required to commence project construction within two years 
of the date of the license, the maximum period permitted by 
section 13 of the Federal Power Act. The Commission 
subsequently granted a two-year extension of the commencement 
of construction deadline, again the maximum authorized by 
section 13. Construction had not commenced when that deadline 
expired, on September 26, 2007. Section 13 provides that, when 
construction has not timely commenced, the Commission must 
terminate the license. The Commission terminated the license by 
order dated August 3, 2009.
    I and the last several Commission Chairmen have taken the 
position of not opposing legislation that would extend the 
commencement of construction deadline up to 10 years from the 
date that the license in question was issued. Where proposed 
extensions would run beyond that time, there has been a sense 
that the public interest is better served by releasing the site 
for other public uses. Because S. 3099 authorizes the 
Commission to grant a three-year extension from the date of the 
bill's enactment, assuming that the bill is enacted by 
September 26, 2010, thus extending the commencement of 
construction deadline to ten years from when the license was 
issued, I do not oppose the bill.
    If I can be of further assistance to you on this or any 
other Commission matter, please let me know.
            Sincerely,
                                           Jon Wellinghoff,
                                                          Chairman.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of Rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by S. 3099, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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